Trust and surrender, in ceremony and every day
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3 min read
Have you ever felt something larger tugging at you, asking you to let go and simply trust? In our ayahuasca ceremonies, “trust and surrender” are words we come back to again and again. When the experience gets intense, they’re what we hold on to. So what would happen if we practiced them the rest of the week too?
Picture waking up ready to trust the day instead of trying to control it. Trust, as we use the word, is the belief that even when life feels chaotic and unpredictable, there’s a larger order at work. Surrender is loosening your grip on the steering wheel and letting life’s current carry you where you need to go. They work as a pair: you act, and then you accept.
Control isn’t security
Most of us learned that control equals security: plan carefully enough, manage every detail, and you can keep uncertainty away. It doesn’t work, because uncertainty comes anyway. In our experience, what actually steadies us is trust, in ourselves, in other people and in the universe.
Think about planting a seed. Once it’s in the soil, you don’t keep digging it up to check on it. You trust that with the right conditions it will grow. We can plant our intentions the same way and give them time. Surrender doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means taking inspired action and then letting go of the outcome.
Where to practice
Life gives us plenty of chances, usually disguised as problems. Facing a hard decision, we can trust our intuition instead of giving in to fear or doubt. When plans fall apart, we can stop fighting it and stay open to the possibility that something better is on its way.
Think of a time something didn’t go the way you expected and eventually led somewhere better. Moments like that are reminders that trust and surrender are often the best choice we have. Seen that way, life’s unpredictability starts to look less like a threat and more like an adventure.
Simple practices
- Breathing. Take a few moments each day to focus on your breath. As you breathe in, imagine breathing in trust. As you breathe out, let go of control.
- Gratitude. Notice what you’re grateful for, in the things you planned and the ones you didn’t.
- Affirmations. Phrases like “I trust the process of life” or “I surrender to the flow” are simple reminders of what you’re practicing.
- Journaling. Write about times letting go led somewhere good, and how those lessons apply to what you’re facing now.
- Meditation. A regular practice quiets the mind’s chatter enough to hear your own intuition.
Back to ceremony
In ceremony, trust and surrender help us move through an experience that can be intense and unpredictable. In our experience, trusting the medicine and letting go into it is where the insight comes from. And that practice doesn’t stop when the ceremony ends.
None of this means giving up responsibility or passively accepting whatever comes your way. It’s a balance: do your part, then let go of how it turns out.
Picture your life as a river. There will be calm stretches and rapids, and every twist is part of the same flow. Trust that you are exactly where you need to be, and start small: a breath, a thought, an intention.